Category 3 Water Cleanup in the United States

From cleanup toward a fresh start, grossly contaminated water that can contain harmful agents. With clear direction, under the IICRC S500 standard, it covers sewage, water from outdoors at ground level, water that contacted contamination on its way, and lower category water that degraded over time.

With clear direction, category 1 is clean water from a sanitary source such as a supply line. As the property gets back on track, category 2 is water carrying significant soil, such as appliance discharge or drain water.

From cleanup toward a fresh start, category describes what is in the water. For a smoother recovery, class describes how hard the space will be to dry, based on how much of its total surface area is wet porous material.

With clear direction, by how much of the total surface area of the space, meaning floor, walls and ceiling together, is wet porous material.

With clear direction, yes, and this is the part most people are never told. For a smoother recovery, clean water picks up soil and grows bacteria as it stands, so it is treated as Category 2 within about a day and Category 3 beyond about two days.

From cleanup toward a fresh start, it means the estimate should include sealed work area, protective equipment, removal of absorbed porous materials, documented disposal and a cleaned and dry release.

From cleanup toward a fresh start, no. With clear direction, the category condemns porous material that absorbed the water, not the contents of the room.